Casey insists his Coleshill side are still title outsidersWrites the Coleshill Herald

COLESHILL Town boss Paul Casey insists the Midland Premier title is still a straight shoot-out between Basford and Long Eaton.

Casey's men stretched their unbeaten run to 13 with a 2-1 win over Rocester on Tuesday night to move up to second, level on points with leaders Basford.

Lye are third, also on 59 points with Long Eaton in fourth, just a point adrift of the top three.

Despite the tight nature of the league, Casey believes the fact that Basford and Long Eaton have games in hand makes them favourites still.

"It's still those two fighting it out in my opinion," Casey said. "We are just there, trying to keep pace really.

"We are the form team right now, which is great, but they still have the games in hand.

"We are just taking a relaxed approach to it and just trying to build on what we have achieved."

Coleshill were named the Midland Premier League team of the month for January, prior to Tuesday night's win over Rocester.

Casey's men have not been beaten since early December.

"We never got beat after picking up the award so that was a bonus!" said Casey, reflecting on the so-called curse of monthly awards.

"We have done really well. We have been getting some great results and getting them on difficult pitches too.

"We have a tough run coming though and we have to make sure we utilise the squad we have here and keep things fresh."

The squad has been bolstered in the last week by the arrival of former Birmingham City youth striker Deqwon Ebanks.

And Casey said: "I think, collectively, we have the best set of strikers in this division now and I am very lucky.

"Shane Benjamin, Mykel Beckley, Rickie Cutting, Simeon Cobourne and now Deqwon would get into any side in this league.

"Deqwon is a great signing for us. His hold up play is very good. He's good with his back to goal, he links up play between the midfield and attack very well. He's very good in the air too. He brings a lot of style to us."

Next up for Coleshill is a home clash with fifth-placed Quorn on Saturday, kick off 3pm.

Coleshill enjoyed a 6-0 win at Quorn back in December but Casey said: "We are expecting it to be a lot tighter this time.

"They are fifth in the table and are a good side. If we can get three points, that would move us 11 points ahead of them with games in hand.

"Our primary aim this season is to finish in the top four so it would be a step in the right direction towards that."